Knitting needle



March 15, 1949.

E. BIRMINGHAM 2,464,483

} KNITTING NEEDLE Filed June 2, 1947 E" F/E' ZN VENTUR EDI/VA BIRMINGHAMiwa w;

I ATTURNEY Patented Mar. 15, 1949 .UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,464,483KNITTING NEEDLE Edward Birmingham, Albany, Calif. Application June 2,1947, Serial No. 751,887

This invention relates to an improved combined knitting and crochetingneedle construction and has special reference to an improvement on mypatent of January 14, 1947, and bearing Letters Patent Number 2,414,353.

The said patent provides an improved means for knitting, wherebyknitting is made easier, can be accomplished faster, producing moreuniform stitches and the danger of splitting yarn is eliminated.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pair of elongatedgrooved needles and a hook needle having a short tubular stem capable ofbeing positioned on either one of the said grooved needles and in whichposition the said hook needle will be frictionally retained in use andcan be readily removed enabling the pair of grooved needles and hookneedle all to be employed in combination when effecting a combinedknitting and croch'eting operation.

A further object of the present invention is to preferably construct thepair of grooved needles of metal and form the hook needle and the shorthollow stem thereon of a resilient material, such as plastic, wherebythe said hook needle is frictionally retained on the stem of the groovedneedle in the most efficient manner.

A still further object of the present invention is to eliminate theremovable spring retained cap from the hook needle stem as provided inmy said Patent Number 2,414,353 and to greatly shorten the length of thestem of the hook needle relative to the length of the grooved needlestem, thus simplifying the positioning of the stems one in the other.

And a still further object of the present invention is to provide aknitting and crocheting needle construction of the character describedthat is durable, economical to manufacture, positive in operation andhighly emcient and serviceable in use.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of the specification, whereinfor the purpose of illustration like numerals designate like partsthroughout the same:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of one of the grooved needles and theelongated stem thereof;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of a second grooved needle employed,which needle is identical to that illustrated in Fig. 1, and also showsthe hook needle assembled thereon;

Fig. 3 is a central vertical sectional view of the hook needle and theshort hollow stem thereof; and

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on 1 Claim. (01. ere-117) 2line 4-4 of Fig. 2, looking in direction of the arrows.

Referring in detail to the drawing and the numerals thereof, thenumerals 6 and I designate, as a whole, two grooved needles, each ofwhich is identical with the other. The grooved needles are equipped withcurved pointed ends 3 and 9, respectively, and with elongated taperedgrooves l0 and II, respectively, extending from the said pointed ends.Each of thesaid tapered grooves gradually diminishes in width and depthas indicated at I2 an I 3 in Figs. 1 and 2. The said needles 6 and 1 areeach provided with fixed head portions l4 and [5, respectively.

The reference character B designates, as a whole, the tubular hookneedle, having a hook it formed on one end thereof and is made hollow asat H, and is capable of fitting on the grooved needle 6, or the groovedneedle 1, as shown to advantage in Fig. 2. The said hook needle isconstructed of a hard resilient material and the inside diameter of thestem is of such dimension relative to the outside diameter of eithergrooved needle as will cause the said hook needle to be frictionallyretained on the grooved needle.

In the use of the needles to efiect a combined knitting and crochetingoperation, the grooved end portion of either the needle 6 or the needle'l is positioned in the hollow portion of the hook needle B as shown inFig. 2, which illustration shows the hook needle B on the groovedneedle 1. The yarn is cast on the other grooved needle 6 as in commonpractice. When the desired number of stitches have been cast on, thegrooved needle 6 is held in the left hand with the grooved side up, andthe yarn is held over the first finger. The hook needle B is thenpositioned in the tapered groove Ill between the first and second loop,then pushed toward the end of the needle until it slips out of thegroove and through the loop. At this time, the loop is on the end of thegroove needle '6 with the hook through it.

The next step is to hook the yarn and draw it through the loop, keepingit on the hook needle B, as in ordinary knitting. When the next stitchis taken and the hook needle B is slipped through the loop, the stitchfirst taken is forced back on the hook needle B, which operation willdraw the yarn snug. Each stitch in turn will be forced on in the samemanner, which action will make all stitches uniform.

When a row has been completed and all the stitches are on the hookneedle B, the said hook needle B is removed leaving the stitches on thegrooved needle 1 that was inserted in the hollow end portion of the saidhook needle. The said hook needle B is then transferred to the groovedneedle 6 and the knitting continued as before.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and thatvarious changes relative to the material, size, shape and arrangement ofparts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A combined knitting and crocheting device, comprising a hollow knittingneedle having a hook shaped barb on an end portion thereof, a pair ofelongated grooved needles each of which is formed with a pointed curvedextremity, each of the said grooved needles being receivable in the saidhollow knitting needle and frictionally retained therein, whereby theknitting needle is transferable from one grooved needle to the otherduring the knitting operation.

EDWARD BIRMINGHAM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

